Tylenol and ER

Three boys, 5 years in and only one ER trip (Aaron’s stitches at 15 months) as of the last Fri… not too shabby. On Saturday we were getting the boys ready for the basketball game and heard a medicine bottle rattle. We ran down the hall to find Carter had gotten the Tylenol out of my purse and opened the CHILD PROOF lid. Adam swept his mouth and ½ fell out and the other half was chewed up but cam out. I called poison control – they asked me his weight and the milligrams of the Tylenol. They determined 4 was the toxic limit for his weight. I was pretty sure he did not swallow any but she asked if I was 100% certain. I was 99% certain – but better safe than sorry. So my mom and Michelle picked the boys up for the game and Adam and I took Carter to Clark. We did not have to wait long – they took blood right away to test his levels. I left the room while they took blood – I feel my boy’s pain WAY too much – but my little guy did not even shed a tear!!!! While they were waiting on the result they brought us in a cup of liquid charcoal, which would absorb into the stomach and protect it from the Tylenol. The first few sips we confused him by giving him a drink of chocolate milk then the charcoal. We got through about ¼ of it that way. The other ¾ - well…. how would you like to drink a cup of charcoal???? I held him with my fingers between his back teeth so he could not spit, while Adam squirted it down his throat with a syringe. We could only get through about ½ the syringe before my fingers were raw from his teeth. It was either this or a tube down his nose – we were really trying. We got it all down – we were all a mess!!! They came back in 4 hours after the ‘possible’ ingestion and retook his blood – still no tears!!! These results like the first showed his levels at zero. Six hours later we were home – but better safe than sorry. BTW Carter had a blast. He waved to everyone in the neighboring rooms and entertained all the nurses during his visit.